Effectiveness of Schema-Based Instruction Strategy in Improving Mathematical Word Problem Solving and Working Memory of Students with Learning Disabilities in The Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a schema-based instruction strategy in improving mathematics word problem solving and working memory performance of third grade students with learning disabilities in schools in Oman. Students received a diagnosis of specific learning disability (SLD) based on the aptitude discrepancy model in which an achievement test and an aptitude test (Raven’s Coloured Successive Matrices) were used to determine the existence of a discrepancy. Students were then divided into two matched groups, a control group and an experimental group; each group included (20) students. Study instruments included a mathematics word problem solving test, a working memory test, and the schema-based intervention program. Results of the study showed that participants in the experimental group differed from controls in word problem solving and working memory performance following exposure to the intervention program. More specifically, performance of experimental group participants in the word problem solving varied across the pre, during the implementation, and post intervention phases in favor of the post intervention phases and in favor of the type of Assembly problems. Implications of using schema-based instruction strategy with students with SLD are discussed in the light of the study findings.